Trump supporter's lies about the KKK are standard GOP talking points

Ian Reifowitz is the author of "Obama's America: A Transformative Vision of Our National Identity" (Potomac Books). He is a professor of Historical Studies at S.U.N.Y.-Empire State College.

Let’s talk about the past, and let’s talk about the present. Let’s talk about racist terrorism, the Ku Klux Klan, and segregation. Let’s talk about progressives and right wingers, and the Democratic and Republican parties. Finally, let’s do it truthfully. Okay?

Speaking of truth, we didn’t get a whole lot of it from Donald Trump supporter Jeffrey Lord during his exchange with fellow CNN contributor Van Jones earlier this week. They began by discussing Trump and his failure to immediately denounce former KKK grand wizard and longtime white supremacist David Duke. Let’s focus here, however, on Lord’s completely false presentation of the history of the KKK.

JONES: The Klan is a terrorist organization that has killed --

LORD: A leftist terrorist organization.

[snip] JONES: What difference does it make if you call them leftists? They kill people. They don't play games with that.

LORD: You're right. You don't hide and say that's not part of the base of the Democratic Party. That has been -- they were the military arm, the terrorist arm of the Democratic Party, according to historians. For God sakes, read your history.

[snip] JONES: The Klan kill people by race….

LORD: And they did it -- they did it to further the progressive agenda. Hello?

JONES: That is, first of all, so absurd.

LORD: It is not absurd.

JONES: The Democratic Party of the south of the old days was a racist party. And you are correct, sir. They were a violent party. You were correct, sir.

LORD: How do you think we got Woodrow Wilson elected?

(CROSSTALK)

JONES: Hold on a second. That's not the Democratic Party of today. So, what are you talking about that for? You play these games --

LORD: It is the Democratic Party of today. The Democratic Party of today divides by race.

There’s a lot to unpack here. First, we’re to going to explore—by taking a serious, sober look at history—what an absolute load of crap Lord’s claims are. Second, and more importantly, we’re going to look at how those claims are not simply the ravings of a Trumpeter—someone whom the GOP establishment rejects. Those claims, in fact, reflect standard Republican talking points. ...